The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art.
Oil, natural gas, water, and other natural resources have tremendous economic value. Such resources are often found far underground beneath various layers of strata possibly including hard rock such as granite. Underground resources are generally accessed through a drilling process. Efficient and inexpensive drilling processes are beneficial as they allow for increased exploitation of underground resources.
In traditional well drilling processes, mechanical drilling techniques using various rotary bits such as roller bits, polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, and diamond drill bits are often used. Different drill bits are designed to drill through various types of strata. In addition, some drilling processes use jet drilling wherein water or another substance is discharged at high pressure to perform the drilling. However, in the case of drilling through extremely hard strata such as granite these traditional drilling processes typically prove very difficult, and are generally time-consuming and expensive. In addition, current deep drilling technologies generally require a very large drilling platform which results in large expenses.